 "Things happen the
way they are supposed to"Avery Soileau was raised in
Louisiana, a working-class man who relied on physical ability to
provide a living for himself and his family.
When he was in his early 20s he started having problems with his
back. Visits to the doctor revealed that he had a deformity of the
spine. He was told that the day could come when he would suffer a
debilitating event.
But Avery Soileau was not the type of person who could sit down
and let other people take care of him. So, for years he worked
manual labor jobs, supporting his family.
After their third child was born, the Soileaus relocated out of
Louisiana to Tennessee. It was while they were living there that
their lives started taking some dramatic turns.
When they moved to Tennessee the Soileaus had three children;
when they left five years later, they had four. Soileau laughs and
says in his strong Lousianan brogue, "We call this one Tennessee
Timmy! All the rest are Louisiana-born!"
It was also during that period that the worst possible case came
true for Soileau's back problem. He found himself unable to stand or
walk and certainly unable to work and support his family.
Wife Amy said that Avery's debilitation made for a really
difficult situation. He wasn't able to take care of himself, not to
mention the children, so she wasn't able to get out and get a job
either.
As the bills started piling up, Soileau decided that he was going
to have to look into getting assistance through disability, but he
was denied multiple times.
The family started selling personal possessions to pay bills, and
this may very well have been the darkest point in their lives.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
Soileau was a man of faith, but in times like this, having faith
can be a trial all its own.
Soileau said: "I was angry, and I was mean. One day I was lying
in bed, unable to get up and stand or walk. I had no idea what was
going to happen, and I said, ‘Lord, what are we going to do? I need
some help here."
Soileau said that he had always enjoyed Cajun cooking. He loved
to make foods such as gumbo and dirty rice. But he'd never found a
prepackaged spice mix that he liked, so for a long time he'd bought
individual ingredients and mixed his own seasonings for his recipes.
As he lay there helpless, worried about the future of his family,
it occurred to him for the first time in his life that perhaps his
spice blend was salable.
When he was able to get out of bed, one of the first trips
Soileau made was to the kitchen cupboard. He started pulling out
bottles of spice and reading the labels, looking for names and phone
numbers.
He found a bottle marketed by a company in Carol Stream, Ill.
There was a phone number listed, and Soileau made his first-ever
cold call trying to sell his spice.
He said that he called the number and was redirected several
times, but finally he got to talk to someone. Soileau told the man
his entire story, then said all he wanted to do was sell his recipe
for a lump sum and maybe collect some royalties from it in the
future.
The voice on the other end of the line laughed and said: "It
would be nice if it was done that way, but it isn't. You have to
have success stories behind your product."
Soileau said the two talked for quite some time, but in the end
it appeared that this idea was not going to get him anywhere.
It was a few days later that he received an envelope in the mail.
Inside was a book, "Turn Your Ideas into Money."
A note attached was signed by Fred Matiolli. After some thought
Soileau realized that this was the fellow he had talked to in Carol
Stream. Soileau says he gives a lot of credit to Matiolli, a man who
didn't know him at all but went the extra mile to help a stranger.
The Soileaus studied the book and decided that they would take a
shot at mixing and marketing their spices themselves.
Amy said they decided to start with 1,000 bottles and see if they
could get them sold. They ordered bottles and labels, made contact
with a restaurant who would allow them to use their kitchen to mix
the spices, filed all the necessary paperwork with the state, and
started working to get their product out in the marketplace.
Avery and Amy said that they were broke, but they had a credit
card, so they charged everything they purchased for that first
batch. They went to the local grocery, bought their ingredients
retail, mixed everything up, then sold it wholesale.
They experienced some success in Tennessee. The family had their
spice displays set up in hair salons, gift shops and catering
businesses, but it wasn't going to be enough for them to live on.
They started thinking about where they needed to be in order to
make the business a success, and the state of Illinois kept coming
back to them.
Amy's family was from Pennsylvania, where she'd been raised.
However over the years the family had migrated to Illinois,
beginning with her sister. Amy's sister and brother-in-law had come
to central Illinois, where he worked for State Farm at Bloomington
and at one time lived in Atlanta. Later her parents and younger
sister would follow.
Soileau said that in addition to that, he and his wife had
studied up and found that there was a lot of food production and
packaging taking place in Illinois. They also remembered it was a
man from Illinois who was willing to offer them help.
"Everything was saying we needed to move to Illinois, so we did,"
Soileau said.
The family arrived in Logan County late last year, as the
holidays were approaching.
They stayed for a time with Amy's mother -- all six of them
sharing one bedroom.
They had come to Illinois with inventory in hand, so Avery set
out collecting phone books and making cold calls to area businesses,
trying to get his product on the market.
Amy set to work filing the paperwork that would allow them to
manufacture their product in Illinois.
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"Pay it forward"
Among Avery and Amy's first contacts were Wally and Sharon Bryant
of Bryant's Arcade in Lincoln.
Soileau said he opened the phone book and the Arcade was among
the first listed, so he gave them a call. He wanted the Bryants to
put his spice mix on their tables with the salt and pepper. He told
Sharon that the seasoning could be used like a condiment or it could
be used in recipes.
Bryant said that during that conversation she told Soileau, "I
just don't know if central Illinois is ready for Cajun spices."
But Soileau didn't give up that easily. The family paid a visit
to the Arcade, ate a meal and visited with Bryant face to face.
Bryant said that there was just something about the family that
made her want to do what she could to help them get started.
She said that she and her husband were still new to the Arcade
then, having only taken it over in August of last year. Just five
months into her new business, she was looking at a family that
needed just a little hand up to get going.
She remembered that when she took over the Arcade, she was very
thankful that the patrons of the previous owners continued to come.
She was thankful that her business was doing all right, and she felt
like she had an opportunity to help someone else the way she had
been helped.
Bryant said that after that face-to-face meeting, she and her
husband talked about the Soileaus and what they were trying to do.
She and Wally decided they would offer them their kitchen to mix
their spices.
Soileau said that Bryant called him and told him they could use
the kitchen under one condition: They would accept this as a gift,
with no money changing hands.
Soileau said, "I just couldn't do that."
But Bryant countered that there were three days a week when the
Arcade closes at 2 and reopens at 4 for an evening meal service. "On
those days, I don't leave the café, so it just made sense that they
could come on those days and mix," she said.
The two finally agreed that the Bryants would take no money for
the kitchen, but they would take all the spices they could use.
Today the Bryants do have a spice display on their counter, and they
use the product in their kitchen.
Bryant says that it adds a lot to her onion rings, and they add
some in the chili and on the ribs they serve as a Monday evening
special.
"We do everything from scratch here," Bryant said. "We want only
quality products in our kitchen." As she used the spice mix called
Soileau's Bayou Blend, she found that it measured up quite well to
the standards she's set for her business.
The Bayou Blend is sold not only at Bryant's, but also at the
Lincoln IGA and Fifth Street Food Mart in Lincoln. In addition the
product is in about 50 other grocery stores throughout central
Illinois.
Amy, with help from the kids, does all the mixing and packaging.
Avery makes calls on retailers and does live demonstrations of
the product in all the stores that carry it.
Soileau says that the business is growing and becoming a success.
To that end, they have found a building in Middletown that will
eventually be their blending facility.
Soileau says that the building was gutted out when they got it,
and they have spent a lot of time trying to get it to the place
where it can be used.
He feels that they are nearing completion, but in the meantime
they are thankful for people like Wally and Sharon Bryant who are
willing to open their doors to them.
"When this interview came up, I talked to Sharon and I told her
there was no way we would do this without her and Wally here too,"
Soileau said.
The Soileau family works together, from the youngest child to the
oldest parent, to build their family business. Their son Zachary,
age 14, often goes with Avery to the demonstrations and helps sell
their products.
Avery says that Hannah, Benjamin and even Tennessee Tim all help
where and how they can. He added that he's very proud of his kids
and that sometimes they are the ones who "hold the fort down" while
he and Amy are trying to build the business.
The Soileaus also have a public wall on Facebook where visitors
can ask advice, get recipes and learn where the next live
demonstration will take place.
In addition, the spice mix is winning chili cook-offs in the
heart of Illinois. Soileau said that right now they have two chili
cook-off winners who have used the Bayou Blend and are giving the
Soileaus their testimonials.
And finally, Soileau is now offering a complete chili seasoning
packet. It was a product born out of dissatisfaction with what he
could find in local groceries. The blend is a little bag that will
make a half-gallon of spicy chili. Soileau says the products they
sell have Louisiana kick, but they can be used sparingly for milder
tastes. Or "give the baby milk!" he laughs. "If you can't take the
heat in the chili, add a little sour cream."
To visit the Soileaus on Facebook, follow the link below:
Soileau's Seasoning
[By NILA SMITH]
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